Meet Brittney Heyns | Accountant & Knitter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Brittney Heyns and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brittney, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I have been knitting for over ten years. It has become such a passion of mine and I love to create all different kinds of things, but specialize in stuffed animals and wall art. While giving these things as gifts is always great, I will sometimes spend 30+ hours on a single project and it can be exhausting and devaluing to always be giving your handmade items away for free. I decided a few years ago it was time to start selling my projects and Knittney was born!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My brand, Knittney, is all about expression through yarn. I will never be over the fact that I can draw something out, scale it to the size I want, and actually knit it into existence. There is nothing like seeing the ideas in your head come to life row by row, stitch by stitch. I draw my inspiration from two very different things that I adore – horror movies and desert foliage! I make a lot of cacti stuffed animals and wall art, and horror movie wall art. Typically when people think of knitting, they think of accessories – beanies, mittens, scarves, socks, maybe a stuffed animal. With Knittney, I’ve tried to come up with ways to modernize the stuffed animal so they can be enjoyed by children or used by adults as accent pillows. On the wall art side, I was finding that I thought some of the stuff I was knitting should be hung, maybe framed, and displayed permanently even though that’s not something you traditionally see with knitted goods – so I did just that!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I have so many favorite spots around Phoenix for every mood and activity. My ideal week would include hiking South Mountain, breakfast at Ollie Vaughn’s, lunch at Ingo’s, taking a stroll or bike ride along the canal, checking out the Uptown Farmer’s Market, local coffee from First Place Coffee, dinner at Glai Baan, Vecina, and Kaizen, a day trip to Sedona, a visit to the Desert Botanical Garden and the Phoenix Art Museum, and paddling around Saguaro Lake!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The entire knitting and fiber artist community on Instagram deserves this shoutout! We all know social media can be a gross place, but I have found so much kindness and inspiration on this platform. The creativity out there is so jaw-dropping, you can’t help but feel constantly pushed to come up with your next great idea for a project. I have also been able to reach out to and connect with other knitters, getting advice on production, yarn sourcing, time management, etc.

Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/knittney

Instagram: @knittney

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helloknittney

Other: TikTok: @knittney